28 Pursuit of Time Part Three
by redcloudedleopard
Summary: Doom has been silent for months, but little does the world know of his worst ever invention: the Timesculptor, which enables him to transcend time & rewrite history...
1. Replay & Reset

"_Ozai Chen." _The announcement of his name was followed by a powerful echo. Looking around the blank stretch of space dotted with distant stars, it occurred to him that the place was all too familiar.

"_It is I, the Grandmaster of the Contest of Champions," _another echo rang.

"Grandmaster?" Ozai was admitted to the sight of a figure in white in front of him. "What is this about? Do you need me for another round in the Contest against another arrogant challenger?"

The voice of the Grandmaster was blunt._ "No. I have a message, which you must treat with care: something exceedingly terrible is about to happen, & only you & your daughter may be able to turn it around. _

Ozai was entertaining a hope that this wasn't happening. "What do you mean 'may'? Can I even trust you that this is real?"

"_Are you not concerned for the safety of your friends?" _the Elder sharpened his tone.

"This is about the wish I made, isn't it? Ozai conjectured. "How long till it'll be too late?"

"_You guessed correct. You will need to time travel back exactly three Earth months, & make it to the lair of Doctor Doom immediately. If you do not hurry, the changes to the timeline & its parallels will be permanent."_

A warm light blanketed the Grandmaster before he was gone. Ozai sat up in his bed, fingering the mattress for a minute. He wasn't exactly disconcerted, but something was beginning to turn the tide of the calm state he always seemed to maintain.

* * *

_In the throne room of the Latverian Embassy, at 4.30AM…_

"Miss Von Bardas. Your report."

"My lord, the Timesculptor can now be fully operated. We have made sure all points on the machine are intact & running properly."

"Very, very good." One would tell Doom was tempted to smile under the thick of his mask. "Richards has surely found it a mystery how I have been silent all these months in my pursuit of his destruction. Finally…my patience is about to pay off." He would strike as silently as the serpent, rubbing his hands in glee at the dream made real. The corners of the world were within the reach of his influence, given the effort invested in inventing his precious Timesculptor.

"If I may ask, Lord Doom, what is the grand plan you have put together so carefully?"

"The instant it is activated, what this machine would first do is weld together _every_ timeline in which I exist. I would be able to see my scheme unfold from every possible perspective, & disregard the laws of time travelling which that fool Richards has devised."

In resolute composure, Victor ran the claw-like extensions of his fingers over the adamantium coating. His eyes flashed upward, studying once more the elegant tubes of the machine darting in & out the room. The contraption was in actual fact magnificently enormous for it wove together the most important rooms & quarters of the building in a single network. "This is an event one could call phenomenal, even historical. But for those who are against it - it is no worse than _catastrophic_…"

Easily comprehended, the Timesculptor was capable of re-moulding time itself. "Let me ask you two questions, Lucia…how much can your past affect your future? & imagine…how much could you change…or _correct_…if you accessed any point in time?" He laughed at how much he laboured in the months past - to make it possible to _abduct_ somebody from a different timeline with his latest invention.

* * *

"Azula! Wake up!" he shook her out of a deep sleep.

"Dad? Why are you in hero mode so early…?" she rubbed both eyes somnolently.

He barked right before dashing to another room, "We can't waste any time - put on your suit & we're running up!" Although Azula's current mood was founded on the lack of sleep, she lifted off her sheets & dragged herself to her closet the fastest she could manage.

Later, they looked for the others frantically. Azula found it was pretty silly running up & down the penthouse corridors when the city hadn't officially rose from its slumber. "Reed! Ben! ANYONE!" Ozai noisily trudged about, the alloy of his armour making small clanking tunes.

In the kitchen area, they flicked on a switch or two, but none of the Four were to be seen. "No sign of them in their rooms. Their sheets have been moved but -" Azula struck a thinking pose.

"Then we're heading to the hangar!" her father hurried on ahead.

"Slow down! What's going on exactly?"

"Is it not completely odd for them to mysteriously vanish from their apartment at 4.51AM?"

"Maybe they had an urgent call. & decided not to trouble us."

Still, Ozai quickly stepped onto the elevator platform with her following behind.

"Call me crazy, Azula, but the Grandmaster called upon me when I was still asleep. All he said was'something exceedingly terrible about to happen'.

"It must've been a dream, Dad," came her chuckle.

"Maybe, but it had much to do with the wish I made after winning the Contest of Champions. Too much. He then instructed that we have to hop into the time machine."

The hangar was very poorly lit, save for the lights on Leopard X's suit & the flickering flame Azula ignited above her index finger. "Hmmmm, the Fantasticar isn't here," she muttered, "Where would they have to rush off to just before sunrise?" Plus - the room was dead quiet - none of the computers were on. "H.E.R.B.I.E. & L.Y. have been shut down. I guess this is the time for me to get worried."

"I will have to settle with turning L.Y. on manually, or else my suit cannot fully work," said Ozai. He tapped a switch under the claw of his right thumb.

"Dr. Ozai!" L.Y. uttered as she came online. "I was deactivated by something I could not detect!"

Her master replied, "It's alright, L.Y. Your manual systems should be working okay." He then spun a little wildly, "There must be a way…We can't time travel without the Fantasticar…unless…_unless_…" He took out the PDA he could actually store in the back of his suit, & began tapping the buttons on-screen. "Reed explained to me about a warehouse in which he stores partially completed projects. & about an old _time machine_ his father invented."

"Worth a shot," Azula yawned.

Unbeknownst to the two, a Doombot had sabotaged H.E.R.B.I.E. & L.Y.'s main cables earlier. Victor had long since added a function where his robots would go invisible & silently infiltrate the Baxter Building if he wanted them to. With time, he had persisted in upgrading & developing that invisibility mode…until his minions could get past surveillance systems with great ease.

_& as for Reed, Ben, Johnny & Sue: Doom had altered a few fabrics of time with his new 'toy', & kidnapped them away from the present timeline in the middle of the night. Without the aid of their temporal stasis devices, the Four had merely disintegrated into thin air. Little did they know they were being taken into a violent timestream, leading to a past battle three months ago. _

_Doom's intention was to 'replay' that same scene in the main hall of his lair, but instead of wiping Reed out first like he did last time, he'd deal with the other three FF members. He had many mistakes to correct: rounding up more guards, weapons & Doombots; capturing Sue, Ben & Johnny before they'd try messing with the history he altered. _

Using Ozai's PDA, the two remaining heroes were able to make their way to the warehouse. Leopard X was left with no choice apart from blasting open the heavy wooden front doors. Inside were half-completed inventions, a few computer consoles under draped old sheets, & many a wooden crate. With a blueprint of Nathaniel Richards's time machine on the PDA screen (Reed had once shown it to him during a scientific discussion), Ozai searched high & low for a contraption that matched the image.

"Hey, it's one of those Doom spiders!" Azula alerted him minutes later.

A little bug-like robot skittering about the floor caught his eye. But he had finally found the time machine, & instructed, "It's been following us all the while! Hold it off while I try get the machine ready!" He groped around for a wrench & blowtorch, then tossed an object to Azula, "& strap this on!" It was the temporal stasis device they both needed badly.

"Okay, it's not gonna be my fault if you press a series of buttons that drag us into the Stone Age!" she teased, putting on the little gizmo.

"You said it was worth a shot!" he strapped on his.

"Very funny." She next got down to sizzling the Doom spider, spinning together a blue wheel of fire then launching it forth. The move almost sliced the little robot in two, but out of the blue, it threatened to use its small but focused laser attack on her. She reacted swiftly using a whip she knit out of her flames.

"Azula! Jump in!" yelled Leopard X. He motioned to her that the time machine was successfully up & running.

She was very pleased to have destroyed the robot, after cracking her whip in a well-judged direction. Dashing over to the moderate-sized, levitating machine, Ozai activated the console & punched in a number of digits to send them away in a vortex. "Is it by coincidence that this thing fits two passengers?" Azula grew excited while they warped into the iridescent tunnel.

That long passage ended in a great white flash. However, stormy skies & eerie, towering skyscrapers greeted them. Although they hadn't seen it before, the Four had told them before about the Statue of Victor von Doom that now loomed over the metropolis. "I can't believe it. Hotshot described how the alternate future timeline they once crossed looked like this," said Azula, eyeing the hollowed eyes of the monument.

"Then I guess that's where we've wound up," Ozai piloted carefully, already on the lookout for aircraft belonging to Doom. The best place for them to land was on the water, near a small deserted dock. The shade of the overhead bridge provided sufficient cover, whilst they contemplated their method of breaking into the villain's lair.

They finally agreed on making it there on foot, except it was inevitable that they were at their most vulnerable. Despite being exposed rather dreadfully, the Blue Dragon bravely rode on Leopard X's back as they sped & leapt in every shadow, dark alleyway or tunnel they could find. At the bottommost floor of the Latverian Embassy they proceeded to climb all the way to the balcony - where the entrance to the main hall was situated.

Leopard X's mighty _pericycle_ attack coupled with Azula's strongest fire blast was enough to weaken the doors. They kicked it open using combined effort - at the far end of the room their opponent was punctually standing by his grand table. At his feet was poor unfortunate Reed, who'd just been rendered unconscious by a neural inhibitor locked around his head. The small edges of the inhibitor pressed painfully into both his temples.

"Doom…," growled Ozai, inhaling to steady his breathing.

Azula saw that the picture wasn't right - nobody but Victor & Reed were present in the hall. Where were the other three missing heroes?


	2. Tension

"Let him & the others go!" Leopard X barked.

Victor was finding this delightful to the ears, "& on what grounds, Chen? You've lost. You are _far_ too late to save any of your friends, including Richards!" he answered in his favourite annoyingly slow manner. If he wasn't dwelling with energy on his merits, he was expending the same energy choking words of frustration out of people he disliked.

Ozai was losing patience, "I say you let them go, because you have a _conscience_!" He sprang into the air, movements coloured by easy elegance but simultaneously with fierce speed. Then he initiated a _pericycle_ blast across the room, making sure to keep it focused on its target. The high-pitched frequency of the laser ring stung, threatening to throw Doom off balance; the villain formed an X-block with his adamantium arm guards.

"Where'd you lock up Hotshot? & Ben & Sue?" Azula engulfed her left arm in blue flames. Her father had successfully stunned Victor, who had fallen onto his knees under the force of the attack. "You may well tell it to us straight since you're 'smart' enough to catch us on the way there," she added. Ozai joined her so they both could corner Doom tightly - though he wasn't close to surrendering. Outwardly he could mask the twisted nature that only manifested itself fully if you unearthed his innermost rage.

The next few moments were all combat & commotion - keeping the talk to a minimum. Victor fought lithely in a serpentine fashion, the extensions of his fingers sparkling in white light & posing deadly threats to anything they touched. Moreover, those same adamantium claws surged with electrical force. Appalled at the skill of her opponent, both the heroes slashed, kicked & punched, but could do no more than strike air.

"Well, 'smart' as I am, little girl, I am not sharing any secrets today," the baddie hissed at last. Then he eyed Azula maliciously, "Do you three want to play a little game?" "You think we would mull it over?" came her expostulation, eyes hardened in response. She wanted to talk scarcely, & fueled to fight to the finish.

"There's a pity about how you _all_ misinterpret me…," he narrowed his gaze & lowered his head, as if on the ready to pounce. "I did not say you had a choice." Ozai's temper was bubbling; he managed to grab Victor by his robe & growled, "Drop it, & do something for once that _makes sense_."

He did not see the next threat coming. Doom waved his arm as swiftly as he could; his efforts _weren't_ futile. The slashing move made a long scar diagonally across Ozai's helmet, which partially wrecked Leopard X's vision. Next, Doom almost went unnoticed as he proceeded to flip a large switch hidden behind a panel, located on the wall behind him. Beside the switch was a meter - it lit up all of a sudden, & seemed to display a number of bars that flashed & increased in number. The meter was measuring a magnitude, but a magnitude of _what_? Ozai fearfully gasped; this definitely had to do with time travel. His leopard ears detected a low hum reverberating in the room that (all too familiarly) matched the sound of ticking mechanisms only found in a time machine. The sequence of 'ticks' were precise; the rhythm, the manner in which each 'tick' became quicker & shorter than the previous one…

Azula performed a move like never before: revving up whatever energy gorged her veins. Only under the pressure of a situation as this would she muster her negative feelings, before channeling them in a positive way. She looked into Doom's eyes, growing angrier still as the seconds elapsed. Soon an azure 'fire tower' rose up from beneath Victor's feet.

"Dad! Help Reed up!" she instructed. "We're making our exit!" Scaling a wall on the way down to the ground below was less tiring than arguing with Doom.

* * *

The alleyway was teeming with large crows & noisy little mice, but at least not with guards. "It feels too easy…Doom allowed Reed's rescue to go smoothly enough," Ozai struck a thinking pose, crouching down against the cold concrete. He remembered Victor, simply standing there to watch them leave, an eerily permanent smile carved into his countenance.

"Well then, what do you propose we do, Dad? We're practically in a pursuit of time!" Azula was frantic, but cautious to keep her voice down. She wanted to groan for Johnny; she wanted to confirm he was safe. Guards patrolled every one of the surrounding streets in their intimidating uniforms. They could not afford to remain in one hiding place for too long.

"I don't know!" her father asserted. "Just give me…_time_." Now he was growing fearful at that very word. "I'll work something out somehow." He supported Reed by the shoulder, who hadn't yet stirred from unconsciousness, "Hang in there, Reed."

"_What's happening?" _Azula's next sentence sent a chill down his spine.

Something that could be compared with a huge white sheet wrapped around them so quickly, they were rendered speechless. Both of them had to shut their eyes lest their retinas would burn, hoping for an ending to the loud blaring noise that was shaking the ground. Not a minute passed before the world reappeared to them. However, they were incredibly perplexed.

"Nothing has changed. Why did it feel as though we were teleported?" asked Azula.

"We're in the exact same location as before…which could only mean…" Following a momentary lapse he went on, "…we were transported to a different timeline."

"Did we trigger it?" she enquired.

Leopard X replied, "If we didn't do that ourselves, Doom is obviously the culprit…."

There was a grunt coming from below them, "I…I think he has brought us into that game he spoke of…"

"Thank goodness, Reed!" said Ozai, a bit of a cheerful rise in his tone.

"Thank you," Reed responded as they helped him find his footing. "What happened?"

"We think we were warped from one timeline to another. While we tussled with Doom in order to save you & find the others -"

"He activated a switch…with a meter right beside it. & I'm seventy percent sure it was his time machine at work. Anything you can deduce?" The two looked to Reed expectantly for at least a response, if not a straight answer.

It didn't take Reed too much brainpower to reply, "I believe Doom has taken us a number of years into the future, where his control over the city & the world has grown much more powerful. He was telling me how he was going to drain the life out of us…once we were securely imprisoned. He even talked about destroying us _"as slowly as he liked"_ - for wiping us out on the spot would have been far too easy."

"& less enjoyable or thrilling for a villain," Ozai completed the phrase. An era of threadbare morality, where you'd never hear of anyone who was regarded as a well-wisher. Perhaps this description fit the current timeline they were caught in.

Azula spoke above the rest, "Then drop all the chit chat - Doom could be spending his time torturing Hotshot & the others!"

"Precisely. Doom has probably sent us here to put us to a test," Reed filled in, "There is a good chance our friends may still be held captive in the Vault, but their lives could be hanging by a very thin thread." Ozai lay a hand on his daughter's shoulder, for she looked like she was growing pale, "I cannot be sure whether we're able to save Johnny, Susan & Ben, but we had better start searching for them."

The quietest nooks & crannies around the city were the safest. In any other places, you'd have to hold your breath to avoid being heard.

"It's as if I no longer recognize this place. If you compare it to a 'normal' day," Azula's words ran cold. A slight echo of trickling water interrupted their footsteps. Each building they beheld looked like they had suffered a vast deal.

All the overhead structures seemed to close in on them. "What kind of motive would drive Doom to be able to hold this whole city in his palm?" queried Leopard X.

"BEHIND YOU! WATCH OUT!" somebody warned. Just then, they were aware of the pitter-patter of heavy urgent boots from behind.


	3. Precipitate

_*Sorry for the mistake made in the previous chapter last time! It took a while before I discovered & erased it for good._

* * *

"Namor?" Reed was the first to gasp. Their ally from the underwater kingdom hadn't changed a bit. At least ten guards were armed with their bayonets & laser pistols, surrounding the group.

"Imperious REX!" the prince raised his outstretched hand to unleash a shockwave. His opponents hurtled backward, a number of them hitting walls. "Yahhhh!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, before swinging his weapon as he would a boomerang. He had probably modified his trident so it would temporarily defy gravity for short periods of time. The weapon struck the rope holding a massive pile of rocks above; soon the path between the team & the guards was blocked off well.

"Their pants are the loudest ever fashion statement," Azula brought some comic relief.

Her father's face was lighted by a grin, "You sound much like Jonathan now. I like it."

"I never thought I'd see a day like this. Seeing you all again, even after what happened to the other three members of your team," the Atlantean turned to his allies. He could've been more tactful, however, for Azula's expression dimmed.

"I can't believe this, Namor," Reed approached him, "Not only finding you in a horrible situation like this, but we have to know: _what happened to Susan & the others?"_

"Look - up there!" barked Azula. They snapped their heads in the direction of the nearest skyscraper.

They caught sight of a bizarre-coloured army helicopter firing forth missile after missile. The violet and dull green chopper was up against three of Doom's jets, & it suddenly morphed with a single flash into a larger fighter plane. "It's Impy!" said Ozai.

"Do you think we should lend him a hand?" queried Namor.

"It doesn't look like he needs one," Ozai half-chuckled. Overhead, smoke was billowing from the engine rotors of the enemy jets, making them look as if they were beyond the reach of amendment. But no one could predict the enemy's following strategy.

"Oh no, the guards have just used a power nullifier on him!" Reed alerted the rest. Each of the enemy jets had launched a disc-like projectile, which latched on to Impossible Man's body & sent out a powerful current. Impy transformed back to his original helpless form, struggling to keep himself airborne. Deadly electric-powered nets were about to be fired at him.

"I gotta free him!" announced Azula. Without warning she rocketed skyward, maintaining the great force exerted by her streams of flames. Namor darted after her & aimed the iridescent tip of his trident at a wing of one jet.

"I would infinitely prefer it if we could _all_ fly," the prince commented.

Azula attempted a smirk, "Tell me about it."

Once again the Atlantean performed the attack with the boomerang effect. His trident was crafted from the hardest elements one would stumble upon in Atlantis, & since its wielder had equally high strength, it damaged the aircraft in one go, ripping open the metal just below the cockpit windows. Now that their balance in the air was disrupted, the pilots were heard accepting orders to retreat.

Azula had the stamina to grab onto a nearby ledge with one hand. From there she freed Impy from the netting using a long-range fire stream without risking injury from electrocution. Her flames burned through the fibrous, ferrous material fairly easily.

On the way down, Namor carried the alien, who was semi-conscious & dazed.

"It's YOU! I remember you! ALL of YOU! But..but it's been such a long time…," Impy stood facing Reed. He was back on his own two feet soon enough; Reed, Ozai & Azula could tell the difference - he had changed both physically &, as they wagered, emotionally.

The Poppupian's eyes lacked the lustre they always had in the past. As for his skin, it was more olive green than the tone of lime green the others remembered. The team had yet to discover how his feelings were acutely painful now, & more difficult of definition.

"Yes, Impy. But there isn't time to talk - we need your help finding the rest of our friends," said Ozai.

"May I ask a favour, Impy?" Reed interrupted. "I can't use my powers unless you know how to detach this." He tugged at the strange black & red striped collar around his neck.

The alien's voice even lacked confidence, "I…I'll try."

"What is it?" came Namor's question.

"It was invented by the Kree Empire, & I had not made any mention that…Doom has gotten their whole race to serve him."

"_WHAT?"_ nearly everyone else exclaimed. _"But how?"_

"Ronan was _that_ desperate to overthrow Supreme Intelligence, so it was no longer surprising he'd willingly be under Victor's authority," Reed gave a sigh.

Azula toughened up, "I'll have a bone to pick with him."

"Not to sound arrogant, but I may be of use where your teammates are concerned," Namor informed them. This was the most urgent matter at hand, thus they made haste to follow his lead. The suspense was choking the air as they passed through more deserted, barren streets, lanes & alleys.

The minute they found it, the circumstances felt more horrifying.

"No…," Ozai & Azula's voices trailed off too fast.

"Is this the - ?" Reed did the same.

Namor hung his head, already feeling overwhelmed by the towering structure they beheld. "I'm afraid it is, Richards. What remains of your team has been held captive in the Vault for three years. News spreads around at times regarding how Victor von Doom & his minions keep their watch over them."

"What about the _hard_ question?" Azula enquired, darkness swallowing up her sentence.

"I am quite positive they are alive to this day. Though I do not know how much longer they will keep their spirits up."

* * *

"Johnny..?" Sue dragged herself to the cell's other side, soon after retrieving the tray. She asked even though she expected no reply. In the shadows across from her, her sibling hid himself from view with his back towards anyone who entered. He was shielding his face.

"S-sis?" she heard him croak. He never sounded this bad. She recalled a past incident whereby a guard had even mocked, "He'll need a lot more than people's sympathy." His partner had snickered, "He'll need a miracle."

"Yes. Right here, little brother," she shaped her words as soothingly as possible. "Eat up."

"Don't feel like it," she barely made out his murmuring.

She tried offering him a balm of consolation, "Johnny, please -"

"WHAT THE HECK WILL IT CHANGE, SUE?"

She fell silent as the grave, but it nevertheless felt deafening. Her brother's expression was either lifeless most of the time, or it would look as if he'd lost all memory of life though he once understood it.

Ben remained in his position, staring out the microscopic window like he'd been doing since dawn. He spoke slowly but rather firmly, "Matchstick, listen - keep yer cool. It makes it worse if ya don't -"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Johnny cried out. "I've had it with you. BOTH of you!" he smashed against the walls of the corner he would normally sit in.

"Ben, I…I can't help him," tears streamed down Sue's porcelain face. "I don't know what can be worse…"

"Suzy, I promise I'll get Ronan for this," her friend pulled her into his protective embrace.

"_But there's more to lose, BEN!_ I'd rather hang on whatever good there _is_ left."

He ended with a deep sigh, "I think there'll be nothing to lose in the end, Suzy Q."


	4. The Vault

_I'm trying to put this in dialogue form, just to make it different. Hope it hasn't ruined things._

_

* * *

_

NAMOR: "They say the hardest part of any process is beginning it. Somehow we all have to get our heads around a way to infiltrate this place…"

AZULA: "I'm not sure we're equipped enough to try."

IMPY: "I have a question: how are _those_ made?"

He pointed to the well-concealed surveillance cameras lining the main doors, pillars & grotesque statues.

REED: "Hmmmm…if we could somehow use the closest equivalent of a signal jammer, we might just be able to buy time & get Ben, Susan & Johnny out."

NAMOR: "On a smaller scale, we must _reach_ them first. Should any of Victor von Doom's minions ambush us, we'll fight as a stronger unit if we manage to reunite."

REED: "We'll split up - given the number of members of the team, we can break up into three groups.

OZAI: "& each team is to perform a task differing from the others."

NAMOR: "I would be happy to search for clues on how this place operates, for instance a power source, or important locations."

AZULA: "I'll band with Impy. We'll be able to handle the less thorough. Provided that doesn't come across as too slothful."

OZAI: "No worries, daughter. It's a good choice. Reed, you & I shall work to disrupt the prison's surveillance. If my calculations are correct, I may be capable of getting my suit to function as a cloaking device. The resulting frequency would have to either match or exceed that of the radio & infrared waves emitted by the security cameras."

REED: "With the small window we have, it would not matter that we do not appear wholly invisible. We'd have to even it out by being as quick as we possibly can."

AZULA: "Easier said than done, huh?"

Later, the group had discovered what looked like a manhole on the outside, which turned out to be an abandoned trapdoor leading to some dried up sewers. It was a place not generous in offering light, but safe to hide for at least a short time. Ozai & Azula each managed to spare an earpiece, one for Impy & the other for Namor. Ozai thought it funny when he realized you didn't have to have both ears equipped when you had a teammate's message to listen to. The two scientists began to take Leopard X's suit apart.

OZAI: "I'm going to need your earpiece, Reed. It should still function properly when I finish."

REED: "The field covered by the sound projection ought to be at least a ten metre radius. & the frequency generated by the suit should be high but undetectable by anyone's ears. Doom is bound to have devices that pick up the waves, but we could even inflict damage on such machines."

OZAI: "I am curious too to see whether our little invention would be lethal to Kree technology.

REED: "Ozai, it is absurd, really…what has happened. What we're doing."

OZAI: "Are you sure it is not incredible? Fascinating? Or intriguing or interesting?"

REED: "Very funny."

He forced a smile successfully.

OZAI: "I may be borrowing heavily from someone, but sometimes your life boils down to one insane move."

"I worry about what my daughter would be up against…if Jonathan…well, you can grasp the idea."

REED: "I have a confession. I never told Susan…Sue…about what's true. I've bottled up. I have been a failure at expressing this one fact: that I would gladly take a bullet for her."

"That is one 'insane move' I'd be making today if I had to."

The other three were getting some rest, quietly seated at the other end of the space.

AZULA: "Impy?"

The alien put on an alert expression, turning to face her.

AZULA: "What if I said you could talk to me about anything?"

IMPY: "I…well, uhm.."

AZULA: "What brought you back here? To Earth?"

Her sympathetic tone was a balm to him. He swallowed hard, struggling to keep calm while he spoke.

IMPY: "My planet was attacked two Earth years ago. By the Kree & Skrull Empires. But they were both under _his_ control. He…& Ronan…& the Skrull Commander…they all wanted us gone!"

"After they used that machine to blow our home to bits, my friends who survived - we were finding a place to rest -"

She could see he was shivering.

"Our powers were also fading away." "I'm the only one left."

AZULA: "Hey, we'll try & make them pay it all back."

Minutes & minutes elapsed, but the thoughts were feeling more like a torrent, along with more vivid images flooding her head.

AZULA: "Hotshot…"

* * *

It was a remarkably fast chain of events. It was as if no one depended on time any longer. The team of five officially began their rescue mission at a secret tunnel leading into the bowels of the Vault. Even the weapons of the guards turned out to pale in comparison to the darkness painted upon the prison's quarters. From what they saw, Doom placed an amount of importance in matters as small as decorating walls. The elegance of his designs had elements of malice & perfection woven into them.

Reed & Ozai sped down long corridors drowned in dim glows of red & green. Above them, prisoners stretched out quivering hands & pleaded repetitively, their wailing going on like machines. The scientists silently made promises to free all these citizens.

Impy's energy was waning, but he & Azula had trapped a good number of guards underneath the rubble. It was far more imperative to be fast than to have brute strength. They carried on with their search for their friends, the suspense as bitter & thick as gall.

* * *

He scaled the great heights of some walls, gliding past cell after cell. The horrible red light, glowing from the top floor, was enough of a distraction anyway. Guards threatened to shoot, barking orders to one another, but he pushed on. The whole place was built in a labyrinthine fashion.

NAMOR: "Everyone, I have news."

The others froze, spines chilled with what was on the tip of his tongue.

"I've found them."

Both of them were clad in dark green prison uniforms, or so he thought. Perhaps the lighting was so poor that it was a useless guess. Power-nullifying collars clamped around their necks, appearing to weigh them down.

He first looked at the dark rings under Sue's eyes, & the hauntingly hollowed shape of her countenance. She was clutching her throat, as if stopping herself from letting out her breath.

Ben had his back to the Atlantean but Namor studied how tightly his fingers were gripping the bench he sat on. The Thing sat as still as an actual stone statue, his great shadow cast over some cracks in the concrete floor.

Next was to locate Johnny - why on earth was it that difficult - when the holding cell of these heroes was no more than nine by fifteen feet in size? He saw how parts of the floor were blackened - likely to have been burned - & it occurred at last to him to observe the far corner of the room. He squinted to almost see a silhouette shifting in the shadows, bending rather low & very slowly.


	5. Horrors from the Past

Ben was staring into a world he thought was real. "'Licia, what are ya doin' behind there?" If only the glass pane wasn't barring him from the kindest person he'd ever know. As her hand reached forward it pressed onto the pane, at the level of his own lips.

"Don't GO! NO! 'LICIA!"

Alicia simply shut her eyes, letting herself yield to gravity. Her expression paralyzed him with fear as she began to fall backward & vanish. It was inevitable that he silently consent. This hallucination was a replay of many others from before.

"Ben…_look_…," his inmate alerted him suddenly.

"Is it really you, Namor?" her voice then fired off, full of anticipation, in a different direction.

"Yes, Susan."

"_SUE!" _a strikingly familiar voice made Ben whirl around. _His best friend, alive & breathing?_

"I can't…believe it," the Invisible Woman (or ex-Invisible Woman as her tormentors loved calling her) gasped.

"The clock's ticking," Ozai said, as he & Namor rapidly blew to pieces the four security cameras lining the corridor's end. A wide space, leading up to the cell that held what was left of Doom's arch 'foes'. "Think nothing short of fast - I believe we require collective effort to bring down this pane," the Atlantean prince replied.

Reed arrived at the same place, close behind. "Highly bulletproof glass..," he put a finger to his chin. "If we exert a force like that of a high-speed projectile but _constantly, _I'm certain we'll break through."

"The sirens! They're sounding!" said Impy who caught up with them. He & Azula panted for breath before they could utter another syllable. "We've trapped some minions a few floors down, but they _know_ pretty well that we're here," Azula announced.

"But where to? Where are we gonna run…?" squealed the little Poppupian. Even Namor was agitated, passing his eye around rather quickly.

"I've got an idea - a diversion," Reed filled in. "It will buy us enough time. You three, shoot at the wiring & pipework." He pointed to Ozai, Azula & Impy before showing them they should aim for the ceiling further up the corridor, at the junction where the guards would first spot them if they came. The combination of a _pericycle_ attack focused upward, a fire blast & a missile blast from Impy did the exact trick.

"Stretch!" a voice startled the group, coming from the cell. The crumbling of the ceiling outside jerked had jerked Ben into full consciousness.

"Alright, quick! Namor, listen for my queue to try smash the pane!" barked Ozai. Reed brandished the gizmo that would work with Leopard X's pulse laser - the high-frequency emitter - & they warned the rest to cover their ears.

"What in the blue blazes..," Ben mumbled, as he sensed the glass that cut him off from the outside world was vibrating. Sue was standing a little behind him, though she felt just as exhilarated. Nobody saw, but Johnny had sat up straight in his dark corner, obviously listening to the unusual noise.

"Namor!" Ozai yelled at last. With a shout, the prince drove his trident smack into the centre of the cracks. & once more. Watching the barrier between them & their friends fall to the ground: it was a great accomplishment in itself.

"Susan, I -" Reed didn't hesitate to embrace his love, not caring about the shadows under her eyes or hollow cheeks. "I never told you how much you mean to me." She began coughing profusely, but responded with a warm mention of his name, "Reed.." He was saddened by how thin she'd become; even her arms felt weak around his shoulders.

"Hey, Stretch…" Ben approached the couple. His best friend painfully grinned & patted his shoulder.

Sue's head met Reed's chest, just under the neck. Until she realized she'd almost forgotten, "Johnny, come out. You have to see -" Oddly the cell fell into a viscous silence - in a somewhat deafening way.

" 'See' what, sis? What do you mean 'see'?" a shadow emerged from his hiding place. But he had a bitter voice no one in the room recognized. "As if trying can make something new out of the hunk of junk I am!" the Human Torch snapped. The dark shades bled away from him before he came fully into the light.

"_Johnny!" _exclaimed Azula, running to him like an automaton_. _She felt an air of indescribable comfort in reaching him._ "I'm here…," _her words , she'd merely assumed she knew no harm of him.

"GET OFF ME! I just know it's a TRICK!" was the response. Next she was pushed back. "I don't need anyone to make me 'all better', YOU HEAR?" Negative energy poured out in his tone, "It's all just so Doom can get away without feeling bad." She immediately took notice of the strange eerie colour: in his irises. They were a sickly grey, unmarked by any of the snapping, deep blue that made her heart race. Faded scars could be seen on the upper half of his face.

Unable to help it, Azula put a hand over her mouth. One might not have envisioned what was going through her head. His hair was unkempt, still spiky but pointing this time in all directions. As for his posture, he no longer stood up proud & straight. Worse still, he was so thin…had his self-esteem ran completely dry?

"_Just get away from here!" _he waved a violent fist.

She went for the last resort, "No, Hotshot. It's me." He struggled to get free, but astonishment rushed over him already. Her kiss sent the memories flowing back into his mind's eye. When their lips parted you could no longer see his ravaged expression.

"Zed -?" tears made his eyes sparkle. "How did you -? *But you're dead!" Her velvet skin was just as beautiful as he remembered; he gently cupped her smooth chin in his hands. While she too put both palms over his, a conscious smile decorated the Blue Dragon's countenance.

Then Ozai interjected, "We did, Jonathan. But that's not to say we couldn't exist in an alternate timeline & come to fix this."

"Hey…would I want to know about it?" Azula put her fingers through Johnny's hair.

All he managed was a broken word, "No." She guided him to the nearest bench & sat him down, for it pained her enough imagining him groping around to figure out where he was going.

"Wh - what did they do to him?" asked Impy very softly.

The answer came from Ben, "Yer looking at the worst done by Ronan the Accuser. When he first cooped us up, he made us three into nothing but freak shows."

Next was Sue, who looked down to the floor, "Victor used us for entertainment whenever he ordered us out of our cell. It was only days after our imprisonment, when he let Ronan have full revenge on my brother." Her voice sounded broken at the end of the sentence. Azula was intently listening; gently she slid her head under her boyfriend's most affectionately. He was a little taken aback but shut his eyes in gratitude. Only his sister saw him smiling at last, for the first time in a long while.

"_& they decided it was better to suck the life outta us slowly."_ The rest sensed Ben's brimming anger. "To tell the truth, I'm surprised we made it this far. Even after losing-" he muttered, then turned away from everyone, expression seriously darkened.

Somehow or rather Ozai read his thoughts, "Ben? Where's -"

"She's _gone_. I was there…when it happened." Alicia was taken away from his protective grasp: dragged out of the cell a week after Ronan blinded Johnny's vision with that lethal blow. She never returned thereafter.

"I'm very sorry," Leopard X replied, "But there are tragedies time travel may be able to fix."

"We're going get you out of here. _All_ of you," Reed took the lead, "Listen, if we can split up into groups, we may be able to release the rest of the prisoners the fastest way possible."

"I second Richards's plan," Namor joined the discussion. He raised his weapon, "It is the best chance we have to overthrow Doctor Doom."

Suddenly an explosion pierced the air; pieces of rubble darted through the hole made in the glass, & onto the cell's hard floor. A distinctive voice growled & spoke, "Great…we didn't have to have the grief of dealing with intruders." Klaw's sonar device could be heard when he finally cleared the air of the dust. His magenta uniform was no more - in its place was an emerald green outfit. Even his orbs held a menacing green glow. "Oh, don't fret - we're here mainly for _him_," he hissed & jabbed his finger at Johnny.

"The Accuser wants his excitement for the day with his favourite 'toy'," cackled Trapster, who stood next to Klaw & crossed his arms. He too was clad in a viridian-coloured suit, with deadly looking equipment strapped around his back. Ronan & many more villainous characters were waiting down in the Colosseum: none other than the torture chamber for prisoners.

Johnny's face went paler than a sheet; he started shivering to the point Azula embraced him tighter.

"As for the seven of you, it's either us, or it's the Doc himself…," the Wizard entered. His helmet had a much sleeker look, encasing his head & attached to the high-powered armour shielding his figure. Behind him & his fellow members of the Frightful Four was a force of about thirty prison guards.

* * *

*Johnny thought Azula & Ozai were killed by Victor, which is a reference to my version of "Out of Time".

Ya know, if I'm typing in _italic_ too often, you could always notify me. XDD


	6. High Point

"YOU! Get those legs of yours moving or -" sneered Klaw.

Wizard stopped him in mid-sentence, staring down at Johnny who was paralyzed with fear, "Put your muzzle on for a while. He has an excuse for refusing this time. But I can tell you - I _have_ powers of persuasion."

"If you hand him over, perhaps we will give you some leeway…," came a cold robotic voice. When the Frightful Four had escaped from prison during Doom's seizing of the planet, the mess of metal and wire once known as Dragon Man was taken by Victor's troops to a lab to be refabricated. Now made from black shiny armour that was tougher than ever, he had the ability to speak with in-built artificial intelligence.

Leopard X hid from the Wizard's sight the last of the precious pins: the pins he'd taken from Reed & quietly inserted into the power-nullifying collars of Sue, Ben & Johnny. In the thick silent suspense Reed flashed Leopard X a glance from the corner of an eye. "Do it."

"Everyone cover your ears!" shouted the scientist. A couple of button presses and it was as though the air exploded. Kree technology was no match for the high-pitched scream of Reed's device, coupled with Ozai's pins that acted as duplicates to damage the collars. Possibly the neatest ever solution to a scientific hurdle, thanks to quick thinking.

"Come on, come on," Sue cracked her head with hands clasping her temples. She managed to cloak the other heroes with invisibility, leaving herself to the last. An ache plagued her gradually and the world began to spin, but she had a will iron enough to take the pain.

Namor barked, "Richards, the Poppupian & I can scout ahead, and find a way to win us more allies!"

Reed responded, "Just…do whatever it takes!"

"Guys, stand back!" Impy squealed. That instant he morphed into a huge cloak which draped over nearly every minion crowding the cell. Next he pulled with all his might, catapulting them into an adjacent wall. Only Trapster & one other troop had avoided the quick attack.

"I see the couple! You, get the Human Torch! We've still got an order to follow!" Trapster snapped at his helper, while fixing his eyes on the moving shadows he thought belonged to Johnny & Azula. In a random direction he lashed out, successfully stunning her in the solar plexus. He heard her fall on her knees with a thud.

"Zed…? No, please…" Johnny panicked weakly, as he felt four strong hands close around his wrists. Trapster and the troop caught him easily, given he had lost Sue's invisibility protection by accident. They dragged him the fastest they could through the cell door. Suddenly an unseen hand tugged at his leg: none other than his loyal girlfriend's. Her groans were heard as she stumbled under the pain of the minor injury. Surely she was almost as afraid as he was. Her eyes met with his soulless grey ones, but sadly he could not do the same.

"Please! Don't!" yelped poor Johnny to his captors. One of them simply snickered, but he couldn't see or tell who was doing it. Behind him, Trapster heard Ben's furious cry for his dear friend & teammate.

"Hmph..," he grunted, & whirled around at lightning speed to spray away. His new & improved superglue could at least hold an opponent in place long enough, if not completely halt his or her movements. Spraying sideways he sent out a huge wave of glue, then urged his partner on to run for the elevator with their captive.

"HELP!" was the last Reed & the others could hear before the three shadows disappeared in a torrent of _very_ sticky fluid. "Don't you run away with him!" Ben thundered in a tone one would only call protective. "I'M THE ONE YOU OUGHTA TAKE!" The paste was hardening while they fought to break free.

Reed then realized they were no longer invisible. "Sue? Where is she?" he struggled to move his head. In a flash they fell back onto the floor; Ozai could laser down the rock solid glue. He too took notice of something amiss, "My daughter - she ran, then I lost sight of her! Impossible Man is trying to restrain the other minions!"

"Come on, you three! I got an idea!" Ben said.

"Two of us have just vanished. What do you have in mind if not finding them?" asked Namor sternly.

"To track down that darn bug Annihilus. He's the one watching over this trash dump's power supply."

In the prison cell, Impy lay limp in the talons of Dragon Man who had gassed him unconscious. The robot spoke, "I have secured this pest, hopefully until we can present him to the great lord."

Klaw ignored his every word & ranted, "They fled! I _always_ knew this was how they'd gain the upper hand!"

"Then why didn't _you_ do a thing about it?" snarled the cyborg, expressing unique emotions of a supposedly unfeeling machine with green glowing orbs.

The Wizard lifted an authoritative hand, "Shut your gobs! The last that Lord Doom needs is two more whining buffoons! They may have stolen some thermal camouflages but there's such a thing as home field advantage."

* * *

"Lord Doom, I'm afraid the troop has lost them," Kl'rt stated, bearing the pressures of being a high-ranking right hand man of Victor's.

"Pity pity," his superior was half whispering under the chorus in the colosseum. "Your timing couldn't be worse. I am about to deliver an important message to the crowds - & then _this_?" he dealt the Skrull commander his backhand swipe, across the face & sending him to the dust. "Send triple the number of troops back up! Or so help me I will show you the real meaning of brutality!"

"Yes, my lord," muttered his victim who rushed for the exit. Victor proceeded to mount the pedestal he so loved, for it granted him a grand view of his supporters & thus a grand sense of worth. His eyes flashed to one of his soldiers, Agent Pratt, seated in the second row & fixing his oddly coloured hair for a moment. Then to Attuma, his cunning leader of sea patrol, who sat twelve rows behind.

"_We've come to an interesting climax, dear friends. As you can see, a sort of rebellion is taking flight this very hour." _On the gigantic screens of the colosseum fashioned with the aid of Kree technology, images of the Fantastic Four, Blue Dragon, Leopard X, Impossible Man & Prince Namor appeared prominently.

"_However, the workers are few, with strategies all too predictable. We cannot let our confidence be undermined. Nor should we begin underestimating them despite the certainty that their harvest will not be plenty.._

The cheers in the sea of faces rose to great heights. He continued,_ "As long as you serve me, & I serve you as lord & ruler - the world is secured under our feet!"_

He raised his right hand proudly before everyone fell silent. _"So, what shall we do? We begin by arousing their anger and striking a weak point." _Thus he turned to a loyal servant of monstrous proportions on his right side: Ronan the Accuser in his grotesquely muscular form. Chained before the alien & archvillain, helpless on his knees, was a shaking Human Torch. He had been placed & tied up between a pair of electrified poles that threatened to zap him any minute.

"_Kill_ _him_. But enjoy what you have while it lasts," were the instructions the Kree received from Doom.

"As you wish, Lord Doom," Ronan's lips curved into a very ugly grin. "But…may I battle him…in _fair & honourable combat_, my lord?" He wanted to look into the petrified face of his foe, before he wiped him out once & for all. For him to truly do that he had to be his normal height & size. It didn't matter that he was not as strong; the Human Torch had no sense of sight after all.

"An interesting request. It shall be granted." All Victor had to do was flick his hand, & a beam was launched from above to rain down on the Accuser. It pained him less to decrease in size compared to augmenting himself & his physical strength.

"Finally, I am allowed the full freedom!" he grabbed his staff & fired at the electrical poles. The current seeped into Johnny's body, jerking him into full awareness of electrocution. "I am still wondering whether or not to make this quick, or drain you of life as long as I want!" cackled the Kree, & delivered a powerful kick to his adversary's abdomen. For a short period the Human Torch's expression was one of rage, & he yelled before tugging at the chains to try punch back. He failed, & instantly became the laughing stock of everyone in the huge chamber.

"Very well. I will have a little compassion," chuckled Ronan. He deactivated the poles & let the superhero go free. The result was surprising: Johnny lunged to fiercely attack. He may have had dark circles under the eyes, but he charged in a burst of energy. Fire streamed from his fists. He missed. & missed again. All was black but the noise was incredible.

"_Shall I spill a little blood?"_ he heard his adversary threaten. A millisecond later he hit the ground so hard that there were gasps sounding through the throng of spectators. Some bitterish liquid was oozing out the side of his mouth now.

However, Ronan next let out a howl: something or someone was causing him pain instead. He took a blow or two & it was scorching to the touch…


	7. Progress

"You touch him, my fist meets your face."

"_Azula?" _Johnny lifted his head at the presence of someone protective. The Blue Dragon first crouched over him, then lowered her cheek to gently press against his temple. Her nimble hand wrapped around his shoulder, as if to soothe his fear.

Victor signaled for the Kree to contain his rage, "Accuser, do not react. I wish to see her hold this great audience's attention." Ronan had to stop himself bellowing about the blackish burn marks on the right of his face. Doom next snapped his fingers in order for the colosseum's amplifying system, with a little appetite for the lone heroine's emotionally charged speech. The piercing rings of unseen microphones and speakers were heard.

"Why did you do it?" Azula had no shame. Her gaze was on Ronan, "You've left him with no dignity to stay standing, let alone anything to see."

"Easy, little girl," Doom interjected, "Ronan took those precious belongings of his…to make them mine. I watch with pride as he fumbles around helplessly to survive, and I see him for who he really is: a worthless childish coward!" He sounded so blown up with arrogance that the lyrical words were much like a soliloquy. Ronan remarked, "I have left him with things to see, Blue Dragon. Only darkness. Oblivion. Perhaps the fool he truly is." He shrugged his shoulders in a casual fashion while saying this, and the masses of spectators erupted with laughter.

Azula had a wealth of courage to pluck from within. "Coward huh? You haven't the slightest idea how brave Johnny is! He is honest. He's loving. And kind. The fact that he's here taking all your…gunk! It certainly takes more guts to do that than play perpetrator!" Her tone was raised for all to hear.

One of the Hulkbuster agents in the crowd sighed, "Ah, here we go. Cheesy hero speech."

His boss Agent Pratt had heard him, and responded, "Those got old before heroes themselves got old…"

"You do know it is only the pair of you, versus every other man filling this room? Don't you?" cackled Ronan, savouring the satisfaction of having humoured the army. The couple before him appeared more helpless, or so he thought.

"Then try to snuff out the breath in me," was Azula's brash reply, "Try to embrace the falsity that evil actually triumphs!" Standing up, she finally yelled, "And if you kill him today, you would have to kill me first! COME ON!"

Murmurs wafted through the people like a gradual wave. Victor announced, "I am not just entertained; I am riveted. So young and on her own here now, yet she pushes on to convince an entire force that the rebels have not wasted their efforts."

From behind a giant figure trapped the Blue Dragon with his two arms. "Say farewell to the one you love now, or never." Kl'rt whispered in her ear as closely as he could. She was choking now, mind at a crossroads and thoughts momentarily in a muddle.

The arena shook with the force of a roar, coming from the open entrance. "The evening is too young for that!" Leopard X was at the top of his lungs. Flanking him were so numerous a pair of steady footsteps, amounting up to hundreds in total. Rebel forces. Examples of members were She-Hulk, a number of the X-Men squad, Atlantean soldiers, and many more.

In front were him, Reed, Tony Stark clad in his renowned armour, and the huge bundle of pectorals called the Hulk. "DOOM!" Reed's voice was thundering. "Put a stop to all your schemes, or we tear the walls of this place down!"

In the seats upstairs, Trapster elbowed another guard, "This is about to get risky. But exciting. A chance to really stretch our legs."

"Who let them out?" Dragon Man expressed astonishment, seated next to them.

Victor's eyes shut slowly, before he flashed his right-hand man a horrible glare, "Kl'rt, explain." The Super Skrull's mind was flooded little emotions turning big; he inevitably loosened his grip on Azula…"The rebel forces…they have banded together, thanks to the minds of Mister Fantastic, Leopard X and Iron Man.."

His superior shook his head before fanning out his clawed hands in urgency. Beckoning to the surrounding army, whom he believed had been getting too comfortable, he barked, "Minions, snuff them all out! The waters may be very deep but no one falls back unless it is by MY COMMAND!" Instantly the noise levels rose unbelievably, for the chorus and chants of every pawn under Doom reflected fierce empty loyalty. Guards climbed over the ledges separating the floors, to attack anyone who resisted.

Ben sped up to where Azula and Johnny were, thus helping his poor old teammate to his feet. He pulled the Human Torch into a great hug, "You made it through the nasty test again today, Flame Brain. And Blue Blaze, you're an icon to us all." He winked at her when mentioning this.

Reed waved a hand to allow the hundreds behind him to start battling it out. He called to his teammates nearby, "Azula, take Johnny somewhere safe - the heat of the battle will be raging in here. Namor, go with them and take good care of them."

The Atlantean nodded at the instruction, "Benjamin would be best at locating Annihilus. Perhaps the shapeshifter can accompany him to destroy whatever is powering Doom's Timesculptor."

"Affirmative. Ben, Impy, you heard him," said Reed.

His best friend trudged forward, "Only luck could've taken us this far. You need it for that historical fistfight you're about to have with Doom. Go get 'em, Stretch." A memorable grin decorated The Thing's face. He and the Popuppian set off rapidly into the darkness once again, to sift through every nook and cranny to achieve their aim.

"Whatever happens, Sue…we'll see it to the end," Reed turned to the one closest to his heart. It was not easy to hear each other speak with the cacophony of war in the room. She smiled with determination - a gesture he always treasured for that was the essence of her character and strength, "Winners or losers today, we can say we still tried." Quickly but meaningfully her lips melded with his for a moment; she felt she was melting into him, and only wished it could carry on a bit longer.

He brought her closer still, and then said, "I'm sorry I brought you here..you're…not in good shape to fight. That's why I need to be around to protect you…"

Ozai was close by, armoured paw now on his friend's shoulder, "Reed, I will help you watch her back. It's a promise." He readied his position: balanced, taut and fueled with warrior's spirit.

"Our team just got back together," said Sue, "Our family's just had a reunion. Now we send these evildoers to where they deserve to be." Her hand brushed against Reed's hair behind his head.

* * *

It was urgent, so Johnny muttered though in a stifled small voice, "Zed, I can't thank you enough.." The couple ran to where the noise was dying down; lights were a dimmer shade of green in these quarters. Azula supported her partner by letting him drape an arm over her, so she could guide him well. She lovingly rubbed her head against his softly after hearing his comment. His body felt warmer now that he was moving and out of the cell. His heartbeat (she could tell a good deal about what was different in him by listening to it) was nervous but in fact gaining strength.

Guards in green darted part them, apparently not finding them to be important enough captives. But still, an attack was imminent as long as they were in sight.

"I see adversaries brandishing dangerous weapons ahead! I will handle them in advance!" muttered Namor who glided beside them.

"Yes, good thinking," Azula answered. The Atlantean charged into the upcoming squad, uttering a grand "IMPERIOUS REX!" and swinging his mighty trident. However, a golden spark flashed from behind a blind corner and blasted him in the spine. Heavy footsteps that'd only belong to Ronan informed the prince to whirl around fast.

"Hello again, salt and pepper," an assertive voice managed to stop Azula in her tracks. There was an annoyingly familiar bell-like lilt to it. "Looking cute together just as always. Though I think salt has lost almost all his flavour…"

The Human Torch was panicking, abruptly stepping back, "No, it can't be her."

"When they say 'supervillain team-up' they usually mean it, _my sweet boyfriend_." The silhouette leapt down from a higher ledge at last: Lyja the tenacious youthful Skrull, in the form of lithe, acrobatic Michelle. She brandished the poles she had used as a fire dancer when finding work as a human in New York. The sound of the sticks swinging eerily reminded Johnny of that ruse of love he'd fallen for in the past.

"EX-boyfriend!" sneered Azula at once. The memory of finding her boyfriend badly wounded on the pavement resurfaced. As did the doctor's words about the loss of blood….Johnny becoming comatose...the sad slant of his brows when lying asleep in the hospital bed…Stepping in front to protect him now, she started making circles with her hands in preparation, muttering, "Is the ex-girlfriend trying to stoke the fire again? Good choice." A split second elapsed before she released the fire twister.

Michelle playfully morphed into a perfect mimic of the Blue Dragon herself, "Whoa, glad I chose to say pepper! Name fits you nicely. Did I get on your nerves too quickly?"

Azula raised both arms, perpendicular to the ground, letting rockets of flame gush out. Her clone somersaulted to just barely avoid being seared. Lyja taunted, "I'm seeing a lot of your lively side. It compliments his blind lifeless side just fine…"

"You wouldn't dare say that again!" the Blue Dragon was losing patience. How could some people who walked the earth, or in this case the universe, lack just about all goodwill? To provoke her further, the Skrull decided to transform into a copy of Johnny. She narrowed her blue eyes, and in the cocky tone that used to belong to the real Johnny mocked, "I wonder how much he'd give to see the world with you like old times…"


	8. The Answers Are Surfacing

_Note: Hope this chapter isn't too long! And hope I'm making sense about the science bits. I try doing extensive research on what Reed may say or think, and it's hard. But hey, we're drawing nearer the ending of this intense story :D _

* * *

The Thing traced his rocky hands along the horizontal markings on the walls. They'd made it from the basement corridor, out of the colosseum, up a slope and then to the larger area where you could see storey after storey lined wih cells above. Almost all doors were left open as the place was manic with guards fleeing, some staying to throw their weight around. "Green wouldn't be Annihilus's taste…even though it's Doom's…bottom line Impy, is we follow the wiry mess in this dump pointing toward something probably huge, glowing and red."

A small troop of armed guards (the majority of them had converged to the arena only to wind up captives) headed for them, only to be stunned by a seismic stamp of Ben's foot and Impy's replication of Leopard X's pericycle weapon.

"Got it. And then what?" the alien asked.

"Smash that bug." Impy was to morph into a contraption with propellers and a platform for Ben to stand on, and the two ascend to the top floor while looking around for pointers toward a control room. Surely there had to be signage in case guards had to locate and protect that chamber.

Someone suddenly spoke, "If he hates green, he's not gonna be liking me for sure."

She stood several inches taller than Ben. He whirled around to meet a pair of agate eyes, muttering, "Hey…uhm -"

"Name's Jennifer. I replaced you, remember? When Reed cured you." The She-Hulk managed a firm smile.

"Oh. Right."

"Let me break the ice. I want to help you track down Annihilus too. And I may have helpful information on how to counteract whatever makes him and this place tick."

"Well, we're open for detailed plans."

"My cousin Bruce - The Hulk - was one of the prisoners here to get his technology snatched by Doom for his own use. I have heard Annihilus's cosmic rod thingamajig was combined with gamma technology to somehow keep Doom's Timesculptor running this long, and this powerfully. But all this time spent in a holding cell has given Bruce a chance to think up alternate programming."

"You know you're kinda drifting away from the English language right? So you're saying that all this time, Mr Big and Green's been reinventing time travel in his head?"

She lay a hand on his shoulder, "I know it's geekspeak…but to sum it up, right now Hulk is seeing if he can override Doom's system at it's core which is Victor's throne room. I'm trying to override it at its source." Now was the most imperative bit, "If we gain control over the gamma machines in the control room, we may actually get them to specifically affect tachyon particles that make time travel happen."

For a second Impy appeared to phase out, but he then exclaimed, "The gamma particles can point us back to before the Timesculptor was first activated!" She-Hulk nodded in response.

Ben scratched his head, "Wow. I'll just go with what you said, Jenny. Give me stuff to do as long as it _can_ be said in English! So err, how can we know where our buggy friend's now hiding?"

"That's the tricky bit: Doom has gotten Annihilus to operate from a control room in another dimension altogether. We'll need to somehow get into the Negative Zone," said Jennifer.

Impy pieced the memories together more quickly now, "That place…I was there once! My friends and I - we were looking for a place to hide after our home was destroyed..We had to band together to create a _portal_..but it was a horrible planet! I was the only one who could escape in the end."

"That's it! You can do the impossible - just replay what you did and we're one step closer to fixing EVERYTHING!" Ben's expression changed. The Poppupian's tone died down to a faint whisper, "I'm not sure I can do it alone…"

"Impy, there's a reason why Stretch gave you that name. You're still standin' on yer feet, even though yer friends are gone. And if you've come this far and ain't dead yet, I suggest you give it a go bringing down the guy who started this whole mess."

* * *

"No good leads. We'd be wasting time attempting to map out the entire prison," Reed remarked. It had been half an hour since they exited the arena as well, after the rebels secured that location. The powerful telepath Jean Grey of the X-Men, left alive and still strong was now in charge down there.

Sue tightly gripped his arm in agitation, "Where on earth could that coward have disappeared for shelter, till things quiet down again?"

Ozai sighed, "Surely at this point Victor is making life as hard for us, as it will ever get. Look at all that has been happening. Thanks to that Timesculptor he is not just able to control anyone he encounters; he may be able to teleport between worlds or timelines to defend himself."

A valuable companion of the three, who made a big entrance with his rocket-propelled red armour, explained, "Not while his beloved prison is under siege like it is now. Our best and first bet should be the throne room. He's had one here since moving out of the Latverian Embassy three years ago. It was the only way he could maintain a full lockdown."

Reed was washed over with relief, "Tony?"

"No doubt," winked Iron Man underneath his helmet, "Doom's throne room will be the hub of guard and Doombot activity, requiring us to go in with all the guns we've got."

"So shouldn't we rally as many people as we can before charging into there?" came Sue's enquiry.

"Already have." Tony waved his hand elegantly to direct their gazes to the forces now approaching and filling the corridor. Some of Namor's most loyal subjects, a handful of the X-Men like the renowned Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler, spirited soldiers of the military and more. Tony said, "The other half of inmates turned rebels have secured the bottom floor."

"Yes and no. Too many of us would take more effort to manage…too few, well, I think the result is obvious. We need to think..," Reed looked down to focus better.

Leopard X uttered out of the blue, "Hold on - we have not seen a single Doombot since the break-in. Didn't futurologists foresee -"

"He's sent out the first wave…" Tony eyed what looked like a moving fortress several metres ahead: slow-moving yet menacing. The worst the robots would be equipped with were power-nullifiers, or cold-blooded vapourisers. So he barked, "Everyone, listen! A select few of us can take those dumpsters out while they're still that far away. Nightcrawler, you can teleport rapidly and stick these into the small ventilators on their backs or sides!"

"Susan can shield a few of you while you attack," said Reed. "Ozai, let's see if our combination of attacks could work again." Leopard X alerted the group to keep their ears covered, and the two scientists carried out the operation - pulse laser and signal jammer. All the machines stopped short before sparks shot out of their bodies. However, they were still capable of moving and aiming their cannons.

From the back of the crowd came a yell, "HULK SAY WE SMASH NOW OR NEVER!" The green-skinned superhero suddenly leapt way to the front, then again to throw the first few robots off their balance. Their weight wasn't a problem to the Hulk; it was whether or not they'd fire quickly enough. With sheer speed and ferocity he took down five, before a sixth cyborg accurately targeted him. It shot a white-hot beam that hit him in the side and oddly, the green giant had shrunk back to human form by the time his knees hit the ground.

"Has Doom been saving these machines for the biggest emergencies?" Sue seemed intimidated.

Reed replied, "My guess is he hasn't. Cover me while I get Bruce!"

He sprinted, cutting the air finely and narrowly avoiding a nullifying beam - Nightcrawler had anticipated this so he teleported to push Reed aside. Both of them escaped having their abilities taken away in that brief moment. Sue had held her breath and planted her head on Reed's chest after he rescued Bruce.

With the help of the rest, the thirteen or so Doombots were either malfunctioning severely or completely offline. Reed closed his eyes in deep thought, "I see now that though Doom's power has been augmented with manipulating time streams, he has never been more insecure. He asserts so much control over the people and he cannot trust them to run factories that mass produced his robots."

"Sounds like music to our ears…so the number of Doombots should be limited," Tony commented. "Reed, the plan is more structured than you think, thanks to a wealth of time within prison walls."

"It could not be more urgent. I saw Doom disappear behind his most loyal servants Super Skrull and The Wizard down in the colosseum. What do you have in mind?"

"I reckon he has greatly enhanced his use and knowledge of black hole theory to carve out unseen tunnels within the Vault."

"He was experimenting with those during our past battles at the Latverian Embassy, hmm...I've got a plan!" Mister Fantastic felt the air was lighter around him. "We could find a supercomputer anywhere on this floor, and given that Victor would need very powerful machines, I may know how to turn one into a electromagnetic radiation detector. Black holes interact with such radiation, and I can hopefully find one that Doom may have passed through minutes ago." He eyed a great monitor not twenty feet away in the next big hall…

So where was Victor? He sat brooding on his pure gold throne this instant, in a room built in an artificially constructed time tunnel between the Negative Zone and Earth. This was why no one reached him easily. It was also in a special room like this that he oversaw matters from a grand perspective. The throne was nested among monitor screens that showed pinpointed timelines he kept watch over. Many of which showed the Fantastic Four's whereabouts in the past, present and future. Any screen that portrayed a future timeline flashed red if any superheroes logged in Victor's database were interfering with his grand scheme.

He was endeavouring to make a guess how the rebellion below erupted in so short a time. Diablo the alchemist stood before him mixing together more of the science and mysticism that helped enhance the power of his Doombots. Save for the robots in the basement, these ones in this chamber were the only ones left. Over the years, many of the specially gifted inmates had wrecked more and more of the cyborgs in attempts to break out. Eventually his army of machines had been reduced to a number that was simply humiliating. Of course Doom never commented on this in public.

Unknown to him, the one race in the universe he in fact could not manipulate were the Elders. Rare, unquestionably so powerful that they could not even be compared with the greatest human minds. He hadn't expected the rebellion because one Elder had granted one wish to a pure enough heart…

* * *

"I can help, Zed!" yelled the Human Torch. "Flame on!" He levitated off the floor, but he was chancing it and relying on poor judgment based only on hearing.

"Don't!" Azula was shocked, pausing mid-punch.

In a rough direction he darted to crash into Lyja. He wanted to clasp his hands around her throat, lest she make another squeak of an insult. "Oh, not sure you'd wanna butt heads with me in that state!" the Skrull, still in the form of Johnny, delivered a kick to her opponent's ribcage. The real Johnny let out a scream that almost tore Azula's mind apart. Lyja transformed into a much larger form - the dragon-like monsters her kind changed into if the best defense was to be raw offense. A swipe with her two pairs of claws sent Azula and Johnny crashing into opposite walls.

Namor was just finding his footing, back stinging with pain, now noticing his two allies lying there helpless. Ronan trudged over to where Johnny had fallen, picked him off the floor and cupped a hand over his mouth. While aiming his weapon at the other two heroes he snickered, "The primary reason why I followed you silently down this corridor is _he_ belongs to me! Now," his grip on his victim was tightened, "If you even flinch, I will extinguish the Human Torch."

"That will not happen!" Namor's trident swung so hard against his staff that the Kree had to let go. But as quick as he had done so, he summoned it back using telekinesis, and shot back, "Incandescent performance, Sub-mariner. But we are now in the age that prizes power and control, not your primitive values such as honour or dignity."

Lyja fixed her grasp on the prince, who struggled hard though weakly following the wounds he'd been sustaining. "Make sure the Atlantean is kept subdued, Skrull," Ronan barked at his subordinate. But from the corner of his eye Namor spotted a change that only meant good news. "We have help, my friends."

Rows and rows of other heroes clad in were marching to their aid. Shameful-looking as their dull prison outfits were, their new glimmering expressions masked all the shame from before. "RONAN!"

The Accuser now aimed in the direction of Jean Grey and her several acquaintances. Her auburn hair was nearly as fierce as her astounding bright eyes. She jabbed a furious finger at him, "We are all privy to what you did to Johnny Storm. Well, we now answer on his behalf."

Jean had mastered an ability taught by her late mentor Professor X, or Charles Xavier. If needed she could poke about inside a target's mind, getting them to submit to her will or agenda. Meditation exercises in prison prepared her well; making eye contact with Lyja now, she seemed to send a current through the Skrull's thoughts, _Sleep...forget about what is happening, and put your thinking to rest._ The beast hobbled about dizzily before her lids slid shut. Down on the floor, her form reverted back to its original. As Jean's main specialty was moving objects with only her mind, she forcefully raised an arm skyward: lifting Ronan off the floor so fast his head impaled on the ceiling painfully. While still in mid-air she got her partner Cyclops to fire a constant beam at its target. At last she released her control, letting him yield to gravity and smash into the concrete. Thus she focused in on the special device he always had around his wrist, which was a control panel for various actions or abilities. Along with his staff, she took the device as it floated to land in her palm. Lastly she nodded to allow her companions to strap the Kree down in chains.

"Don't touch me! NO!" shrieked Ronan. But Cyclops, Storm and four others secured him in a matter of seconds. "Check that no more devices are hidden on him! Then take him back to the arena with those other minions!" ordered Jean.

Some guards had been watching all this and were seen cowering some distance away from the group. In the end they fled through the doors leading to the exits, now thinking too that all the chaos had to end. In apocalyptic times like these, golden treasures that wouldn't otherwise be discovered were unearthed. They were like rare flowers blooming in adversity. Such was the puzzling amazing experience of good rising up against evil. Hearts would turn to cold stone, but others melted to show kindness.

Jean finished by shaking hands with the three heroes, then told them they should make haste. Another superhero by the name of Hawkeye was part of her group; he stepped forward to casually pinch Johnny by the shoulder. "Hope it gets way better for you," he told him.

The Human Torch's response was immediate, "Thanks, guys." Everyone except the trio of Namor and the young pyrokinetic couple left the room trailing behind Jean. Having to sit down and rid himself of the shock, Johnny let out slow lethargic breaths.

Namor made conversation, "Friends, I am deeply sorry about what has happened. Particularly to you, Storm." He added, following a sigh, "If we make it through today somehow, and you require any form of help, you know my kingdom and I are reachable."

Azula knelt down beside her boyfriend. "Thanks, Namor. We'll see if after all this we _somehow_ find counseling. He needs to be treated for PTSD," she muttered. It wasn't funny at all. Ronan was gone, but in Johnny's mind, was there much to actually celebrate? She hadn't noticed Namor's puzzled look, as if she mouthed out something wrongly. She said finally, wrapping arms around the Human Torch, "Sorry, it's post traumatic stress disorder. Happens to victims of abuse or mistreatment over a period of time."

"I think that sums up the problems too many here have been facing," the Atlantean hung his head.


End file.
